Well, not exactly home. Baldy & I did the Million Dollar Hwy south to Durango, turned west to Cortez. Then a quick photo op at 4 Corners, and off to Mexican Hat, UT. Still in 1 piece and still no tickets!!!
I made it to Twin Falls, Idaho in just over 12 hours with stops. About 550 or so miles left for tomorrow. Thankfully the weather has been a lot better going back than going down.
No performance awards for me but I did manage to blow a fork seal.
Jake make it home in just under 12 hours. He had a great time and is looking forward to the next rally.
Dean was droppedoff this morning in Ohio, Henry and I arrived in PA about 5:00 EST. Henry still has a 3 hour drive to MD. It was a 30 hour trip for me. I had a great time and met some great people.
Marsh and Klavdy, sorry you two couldn't make it. It would have been noce to see you guys again.
Paul and I are back in Palm Desert. Gunnison to Palm Desert was 952 miles. Total tour mileage was 3342.
Bikes ran strong, more to come....
Baldy, call me! Eight 0 five eight23 three one 2 six
Still in flag ...
Made it home a couple of hours ago safe and sound. Add brake rotors to my list of needed parts...
Cory and I made it back home in Iowa at 9:30am central time.
Long ride home but all went well.
For my second Rally in 2 different parts of the country, it was a treat to see some familiar faces as well as finally putting a face to a name for so many good people, it was my pleasure to have met each and every one of you.
A nicer group of riders I'll never know!
Garth, I too have a fork seal leaking very badly on my FJ, it might have been from the ditch we all hit on the 50 west of Gunnison!
Alan and I also got the very last out of our rear tires, but I wouldn't have had any other way!
Thanks to Alan for being such a great host and guide for me and Cory. You made the trip that much more better! LOL!
Now comes the pictures we all need to upload, but we have some great ones to share, so stay tuned!
Leon
Glad You, and Cory made it home safe.......
I was hoping to ride back home from the Rally with Andy, but in the interest of safety, Todd graciously offered to trailer me back to Denver.
(http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab154/firehawk068/Rally%20photos/P6090526.jpg)
Here's Todd, at the Helm of the SS Berkshire.......
(http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab154/firehawk068/Rally%20photos/P6090534.jpg)
Highway 92 took the last of the rubber I had.
(http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab154/firehawk068/Rally%20photos/P6110324.jpg)
And the part that's missing here is somewhere down in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.............
(http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab154/firehawk068/Rally%20photos/P6110325.jpg)
Leon, this is for you.............For those of you that rode east through Canon City, and didn't take the turn-off for Skyline Drive, Here's what you missed!
Canon City's Skyline Drive - Drivelapse Time Lapse (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=desQB1fTh60#ws)
I made it to Kingman last night after doing
Monument Valley ( bloody battery on my camera
died as we entered the valley) grrr, then on to the
Grand Canyon, lucky for me Ed was able to charge
my camera battery, unfortunately Ed didn't make
the Canyon he limped into Flagstaff and is waiting
on his brother in law to pick him and his sick bike up
for me the fun continues I will continue on my adventure
and head up to Las Vegas crossing the Hoover Dam,
before heading back to Marshs
Baldy
What happened to Ed's bike?
DavidR.
Great ta hear from ya. Lookin forward ta more pics etc. Very Jealous. Doug
Don't know yet, but doesn't sound healthy at all. One cylinder is low on compression and there's unhealthy internal mechanical noises. At this point a trailer home could be A LOT cheaper than 500 mile ride home (that could still end :cray: in a trailer ride anyway).
On the bright side it could have happened on the way TO Gunnison. :yes:
Ed,
Hope that it's something minor and no major rebuild is in order.
If anything I can do to help, let me know.
CraigO
Thanks Craig. If you have spare motor I could borrow ...
Quote from: baldy3853 on June 12, 2012, 10:06:27 AM
for me the fun continues I will continue on my adventure
and head up to Las Vegas crossing the Hoover Dam,
before heading back to Marshs
Baldy
I don't think they let you cross the Hoover Dam anymore by vehicle........I heard they finished the bypass bridge the summer before I moved from Arizona .
You can park and walk across though I'm sure.
Post up some pictures of the new bridge......Last I saw it, it was only partially finished
Wish I could, Ed. Thinking about when I get a little more flush in coin, taking my FJ and dropping it of at Randy's for a rebuild. 130 rear wheel HP would be just fine and I am in real need of a new rear shock.
If the road is not smooth, it pogos really bad now, making high speed sweeping turns a handful. At lower speeds, it's manageable and have to really ride the front.
But life has a way of taking monies set aside for such projects..... :ireful:
Hope what ever is causing your FJ to run poorly is a minor fix.
Take care,
CraigO
Yes you can still ride or drive over the dam, spent
a couple of hrs at the dam, very interesting, was very warm
stopped and got fuel in Vegas had lunch then slabbed it back
to Marsh's place said I would be there between 730 and 8pm
Rolled in st 803pm who said my gps was faulty (lol) :sarcastic:
door to the garage was open with a beer in hand for me nice.
Well,
Team RPM (Randy, Chandra & River) has made it home...3327 miles in ten days. Good to meet those who I have corresponded with many times over the years and to see those who I have not seen since last year.
Great rides at both venues; WCR = Tight & technical - Colorado = Fast & technical.
Then we had both extremes in weather as well, but I am glad to be home to 95*...at least the wind is not blowing.
Now, all we need to hear from is Andy who was taking the more scenic route home than we did.
Thanks to all for attending, helping administrate the rallies and for being a great group of FJ (past & present) enthusiasts.
Now on to the 238 emails and 50 phone messages(machine is full)...If you tried to reach me in the past two weeks, I will be getting back to you shortly. Also a few bumps in the website orders that will be resolved by tomorrow as well.
Randy - RPM
Nice to see u guys made it home, hopefully
You didn't lower the truck anymore with those
extra's that Chandra kept finding :sarcastic:
Made it back last night after a extremely hot day
in the saddle
Pat thanks for talking me out of doing Death Valley
rode past the turn off nearly fell off due to the heat it was
almost unbearable like the open door to the furnace on a hot
summers day lol
Bald
Home at last. My brother & I got in about 8:00 from Flagstaff, FJ in the trailer, looking for all the world like a Hardly that couldn't quite make it back. :empathy:
you have my sympathy Ed , look on the bright side . maybe you can go 1340cc now.
Baldy, you will just have to come back in the winter, Death Valley is a beautiful ride.
Ed, some fresh rings and a cylinder hone and you'll be good to go.... Hope you didn't score the cylinder walls....
Just got home tonight. We spent three nights in Moab Utah on the way home. Had a spectacular morning ride through Canyonlands national park. What a road! Also did some off roadin with the Tacoma and a day of canyoneering. Had a great time there.
The fj was running much better at the lower altitude in Moab. The light came on and I remembered that last fall I lowered the clips one notch on the needles when I had the carbs apart. It ran great at sea level here at home, though there was a little odour of fuel after a ride and the fuel economy was down a little now that I think of it. At 6000 to 12000 ft. in Colorado it ran like shit. I really had to work the throttle and gears as there was a huge dead spot in the middle of the rpm range. All of you that said it sounded like a needle issue were right. I had already made up my mind that it was the screens at the needle and seats plugged like last year and wasn't listening to any other suggestions.... bit of a stubborn prick I suppose.
All in all an awesome Road trip! Almost 6000 Km in the truck and over 1000 on the bikes. Worth every one(even the ones on the interstate).
It was good to see those of you we met last year again and nice to meet the rest of you for the first time. Glad you all made it home safely. Sorry to hear your bike isn't well Ed.
Hope to see you all next year!
Derek
Derek and Donna was nice to meet you both
a pleasure to ride with u and Donna rides better then that
Sheila Klavdy :sarcastic: